The dancers certainly did not need a shakedown before the troupe returns to its Walnut Creek home this week; they all looked solid, sometimes exceptional. But this was as good an occasion as any to discuss programming philosophy at a regional ballet company, which can't, by definition, be all things to all people, but still should labor to devise some kind of working aesthetic for itself. I don't see that at Diablo.

Last weekend, the troupe revived Sean Kelly's "A Swingin' Holiday," in what was billed as the 2013 edition, which is a mite more extended than last year's premiere. At that time, the work was an agreeable diversion after an intense run-through of "The Moor's Pavane," and it sent you buoyant into the night. This year, "A Swingin' Holiday" has become the program centerpiece, bloated to 45 minutes, and it just wears you down.

Liking something is not necessarily synonymous with wanting more of it.

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However, for the dancers, who looked so bland early in the program, the piece again proved a tonic. The zoot suits, crafted by Cynthia Sarmiento, inspire an almost chemical reaction in the performers, who cast away their neutrality with their tights. The women wear pointe shoes. Kelly has trained them in the rudiments of swing and their energy never falters. I will agree, too, that the live band led by Greg Sudmeier, who arranged the pop songs and Christmas carols, lays down an infectious carpet of sound that sets toes tapping.

But Kelly hasn't shaped the material with any hint of narrative and it becomes a kind of endurance contest. A few more slow ballads might have helped. The most affecting moment of Saturday's performance was Kelly's setting of Mel Tormé's "Christmas Song," rendered with poise by Mayo Sugano and newcomer Justin VanWeest.

While the appeal of a swing extravaganza is understandable, the other works - Mário Radacovsky's "Compulsive" and Vicente Nebrada's "Our Waltz Trilogy," both company premieres - bewildered. "Compulsive" was prepared in 2010 as a tour de force for an international ballet competition, and it offers a male soloist, with only a folding chair as prop, the opportunity to unravel, while a balladeer intones a Brechtian ditty.

Derek Sakakura tried, but this vignette needs a more intense interpreter to convince.

Last year's ballet by Vicente Nebrada was a bore, and last weekend's traversal of his "Our Waltzes Trilogy" emerged as classicism at its blandest. The late Venezuelan choreographer rarely varies the tone among his three couples; there's little contrast or counterpoint and too many climactic descents to the floor. The dancers, especially Robert Dekkers (a gracious partner) and Jennifer Friel Dille (great port de bras, worked hard. So did the onstage pianist, Roy Bogas, who performed music by the legendary pianist Teresa Carreño.

But with so many gifted Bay Area choreographers avidly looking for commissions, there's no excuse for these flimsy imports.

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